[Eric S]

Thanks for the comments, guys. For all I know the hub just failed from fatigue. The last thing I would want to do is wrongfully accuse a shop or a person, so that is why I couched my description the way I did. However, the damaged studs cannot be explained, and it is at least plausible that whatever force was used to damage the studs also contributed to the failure.

Dave O - If I were to guess, it looks like someone used some sort of hammering force in an attempt to get the hub removal process started. This doesn't make any sense, as the trailing arms were off the car and all they needed to do was place it in a press...

Jase - Thanks for the link; his failure looks very familiar and his description was eerily similar. Bob M. had also forwarded a couple of links on this, repacking of CV's and the grease to use, and bearing replacement; I appreciated the info as it prevented me from installing a brand new axle with a dry CV.

Kurt - Haven't been able to reach John B. and the band of tin kickers yet; I would like to have them look at both the broken hub and the other one (magnaflux/x-ray for cracking). I'm interested in whether the experts can shed any definitive light on it, other than "it broke"

Andrew - I've seen the photos of another broken hub on the Pelican link above, and I know they can break. But like you I don't think that this is a "common" failure. Heck, no one in the US even stocks a single hub, not even the Porsche warehouses in Atlanta or Ontario, and if it was a common failure they would have some in the country (and no, I don't believe the failure is so common that they can't keep them in stock). I don't know if the bearing was properly installed, but it came out relatively easily and since the hub was broken, it could be removed as a whole unit and is available for inspection. I don't have an adequate torque wrench for the axle nuts, so they were tightened using the following process: (1) tightened with an air impact gun, (2) tightened further with a breaker bar and pipe, and (3) properly torqued to 340 ft-lb by Synergy Racing before I drove it. Also, I use the second nut as specified on the RS, torqued to 147 ft-lb.

If it turns out that this is nothing more than a fatigue-related failure, then there are a bunch of other guys who better start thinking about hub replacements...

Eric